Floating: A Novel

by Nicole Bailey Williams

From the gifted author of A Little Piece of Sky : The poignant tale of a young woman who must come to terms with her biracial identity.

Shana Washington is the product of two very different worlds. Her white mother is a socialite with an Ivy League education; Shana’s black father has a weakness for whiskey and can’t stay faithful to any woman, but when his daughter is in peril, he always finds a way to rescue her. Hauntingly evoking the worlds represented by these three characters, Floating follows the life of Shana as she seeks acceptance—and wholeness—from white and black communities that both turn her away. When she begins a college romance with Lionel, a handsome track star with bronze-colored skin, her dreams of finding a soulmate seem tantalizingly close to coming true. Yet Lionel’s childhood demons are even more vicious than Shana’s, threatening the fragile love they can’t admit to needing.

Tracing the themes of identity, healing, and self-acceptance that won such acclaim for her debut novel, Nicole Bailey-Williams now shares a provocative new storyline for anyone who has faith in the power of self-discovery.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Grim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the writing style it moved quickly and I found it to be an enjoyable story. Sad details and secrets keep generations from healing as it trickles down through the fabric of the family. Easy to finish and not really too deep or intense.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book, however, like many readers I found the whole 'tragic mulatto' voice a little melodramatic. As a biracial woman with a white mother and black father myself, it was a nice, but not necessary, read. Moments of complete agreement and empathy with the narrator alternated with eye-rolling. It's a thin book, so if you have extra time, go to. Otherwise, there are other, better books on the subject.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly, a DNF - this was sort of a mess, with short chapters, some in verse, moving back and forth between characters. While I wasn't expecting lush prose, chapters of more than a paragraph, more character development, more narrative thread would have been nice.

[Lanetta Dickens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why, but when i read this book, the story was pretty odd to me. The story was waaay to obvious, about a girl who has a white mother and black father, and doesn't know where she is "placed".

[Exactingnemesis · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugh..no voice this could have been any teenagers journal
didn't even finish reading it...

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was far more depressing than I was anticipating. The ending was rather sudden and very unexpected, and honestly, when I read the last page, I threw the book down in irritation and indignation. I didn't expect a book that was writing about exclusion to end in the protagonist dying - after she had survived so much. When I picked this book up, I wasn't expecting a 100% happy read... nor was I expecting a tragedy on the level of Shakespeare (not the writing - rather, the multigenerational tragic deaths that happened prior to Shanna's death).

Indeed, what I read was far more like an almost 100% depressing book rather than anything remotely uplifting. I still have to admire the beauty and grace of the prose and how much it pulled me in... so I can't say I wouldn't reread it or recommend it. I would just have to be in the right headspace to reread it... but if you are prepared for the multiple tragedies in this book, then go ahead and read it. To me, the best words to describe it are "exquisitely depressing" (perhaps an oxymoron to some...).